#28 – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – S/T
It is hard to believe that this band are New Yorkers. For this is a band whose sound so perfectly fits in with several strands of British indie, from the Shop Assistants to Sarah Records, it’s a shock that they’re from across the pond. Geography aside, they’ve created a debut that fits into the best that the genre (shoegaze? twee? indiepop?) has to offer, past or present. It’s all washes of guitar, little higlighted riffs and back-in-the-mix vocals and it works. The obvious stand out is Stay Alive with its melancholic/elegiac chorus, although over the course of its ten tracks, there’s barely a skipped beat. Indeed, there’s enough quality here to overcome any notion that the band are mere revivalists though what they do next will be intriguing.
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Stay Alive
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart Myspace
Buy The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Photo: Oliver Lopina @ South Street Seaport, NYC, 10/09
